Living In The Shadow Of The Cross

1 Cor. 1:18

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" 

     Being a Christian was not a fad or something to be ashamed of for the New Testament Christian. The early church was of no light-hearted matter. They were serious and pretended nothing. The cross was very real, vital and central to them.  There were two reactions to the cross: that it was foolish OR that it was the power of God. Those who claim that it was foolishness are those that perished.  Those that claim it is the power of God are the saved. There are two types of people here: the perishing and those that are being saved.  The cross was not a two stick emblem sold for a price to bring some type of remembrance or decoration. It was the place where sin was paid for.  The New Testament church did not look at Christ’s death as a simple thing but a life changing event. They lived in the shadow of the cross. (1 Cor. 1:19-25)

  They preached the gospel.  There was not a misunderstanding or confusion about what was to be preached or taught nor what was to be done.  “But we preach Christ crucified” in verse 23.  To some it was a stumbling block and some foolishness. This didn’t stop their work. They didn’t take offence to a man’s reaction to the gospel.  They continued on for the message for some is that it is Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  In Matthew 16:24-28 Jesus lets us know that unless we deny our self, pick up our cross, and follow him we can’t have the reward. There is only one way,

  " This is the 'stone which has been rejected by you builders, which has become the chief corner stone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." 

(Acts 4:11-12) 

  This tells us  it is by Christ alone. We have no other name. This is an elemental and fundamental concept of Christianity. The early church was striving to meet what Christ had laid out before them. Not in seeking a new derivative that might be more exiting, but in exciteme sought  exactly what Christ desired of them. They preached it so that others may have what they had.

"Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word"

(Acts 8:4)

 This message was saving men everywhere like nothing had before and nothing has since.  In Gal 6:14 we see that through the gospel we lose interest in worldly things. We are dead to each other, us and the world.  We have been crucified with Christ.

  "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." 

(Gal. 2:20) 

  Those who are His have crucified the flesh and its passions.

    "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." 

(Gal. 5:24) 

 The world was stripped of its glory and robbed of its power to governor over us by the cross.  We died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  (Col. 3:3). We died by our immersion into Christ (Romans 6:1-4).  We were baptized into His death and buried with Him so that we should walk in newness of life.  We are no longer of this world. The cross of Christ bares this for us, we have glory in it.

     There is glory in the cross.  The cross is indeed the only grounds of rejoicing and glory on the part of Christians. 

"But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world"

(Gal. 6:14)

   There was more to the cross than wood and humiliation for the early Christian. The cross of Christ is the love for mankind presented on it by our savior, the atonement for sins provided on it, and by all the hope in the gospel which it symbolizes. This disgraceful cross in our eyes is the most glorious thing in the universe; and for this reason Paul gloried in it because it was the salvation for men.  So we too can have glory in it. We are not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ that His cross symbolizes.  The gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." 

(Romans 1:16)

 What we have seen is the cross was real, vital, and the center for Christians. It still is. There is glory as well as suffering that comes with obeying the gospel it symbolizes.  We must make it a real, vital and the center of our lives.  If we are to grow and mature in Christ we must preach the word (2 Tim. 4:1-2), we must take glory in the cross and not be a shamed of our salvation that it symbolizes (Roman 6:1-4), we must be willing to suffer for it. Persecution will come as we live faithfully in the Lord.

"Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." 

(2 Tim. 3:12)

    We must be willing to suffer for it.  Christians preaching the word and having glory in it will suffer under persecution. Some may persecute you just for the sake of self-promotion.

"As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these try to compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ."

(Gal. 6:12)

It was not for the law sake that the Jews desired all to be circumcised it was for accommodation. They didn’t care for what baring it would have on the pattern we are to follow. They were not concerned in achieving what Christ had laid out before us. They simply wanted favor.



   There was persecution faced for preaching the cross, the gospel. If not then Paul would not have suffered it. 

"And, I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased"  

(Gal 5:11)

 Both of these show that the Jews wanted an easier way. It shows that there was persecution for simply preaching the cross of Christ.  This is no different for us. Some will want you to forsake the word for accommodation. Still others will simply persecute you for your faith.

   These things would have been known and understood by those Christians in the New Testaments. For that reason the desire to be a Christian was not a half -hearted response or reaction to the word.  It would have been a zealous fervent commitment to it. That does not go for all who hear and receive the word as we see that in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:18-23).  However, it does mean that those who did receive it were passionate about it and committed the way Christ desired for us to be with all their heart, soul, and mind (Matt. 22:37).

"But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some hundredfold, some six sixty, some thirty." 

(Matt. 13:23)

With such commitment there is growth, in the individual and the body. (Acts 2:40-47)

   Are you living in the shadow of the cross? Or are you neglecting its preaching and rejoicing in it; therefore avoiding persecution and growth?